Living Dead
by Northernstorm
Summary: Ten years ago Edward left Bella.  Ten years ago Bella didn't jump from a Cliff, nor did Edward have reason to go to the Volturi.  When you don't think you can take another breath you learn what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
1. Chapter 1

I don't own any of the Twilight characters playing with my characters; hopefully they'll all play nice.

Spelling and grammar mistakes are all mine, I'm working on improving.

Living Dead

Chapter One

* * *

She rarely dreamed of him anymore.

His face had faded over the years and she could hardly bring his features to mind, not in the great detail that had been etched so vividly in her eighteen year old memory.

Last night had been different. She'd seen him distinctly, she'd felt him - the unmistakable cool marble of his chest pillowed under her head. For a moment, she'd almost smelled his scent, just a hint - but enough to make the memories of their time together crash once again into her long numbed heart.

Ten years had still not broken the habit of glancing toward the window when the dreams woke her. Ten years hadn't stopped the pain that would come from her subconscious having free-run with her emotions. Ten years had however, seen her keep her window closed. After the first few months of leaving it open, desperately staring into the night and praying for his return, she'd finally closed it - and her heart once and for all.

With wakefulness came her conscious mind, and with a firm shake of her head she banished her wanton sub-conscious once again. With a frown she rose, hugging her arms around her against the chill in her body. She turned to the window without a moments thought for the old habit that came with the dreams. Suddenly, the vision of his perfect alabaster chest, shirt undone, and his unmistakable scent overcame her. Her heart pounded, filling the room.

It was gone almost as quickly as it came but as always, it managed to undo her, no matter how briefly. For a heartbeat she was seventeen again. For a heartbeat he loved her still, and she was his world. For a heartbeat, she still filled his thoughts and she imagined him seeing the sunrise with only her in his mind. Then her heart would beat once too many times and the fantasy was gone, the bittersweet pain in her chest, the way her stomach flipped at the idea that he _would_ indeed still love her. The truth as she knew it was that he would invariably not have thought of her from _that_ day onwards, that some other distraction was now getting his attention. She tried not to think about his _full_ attention.

A very hot shower, almost hotter than she could stand always served to eradicate any lingering effects of the now infrequent dreams. Once, she'd grieved herself almost to death. When her life restarted, her morning shower became a shield for her. Never again would she allow her conscious thoughts to run to him and the hotter the water the further he was removed. All thoughts and chilly feelings of his icy marble most perfect skin were always burned away.

* * *

A scratching on the front door followed by a pathetic whine had her bounding down the stairs and throwing it open, her face smiling sympathetically.

"True, did he lock you out baby, c'mon, let's get something nice"

She leaned down to body-rub her black and white Border Collie as he wriggled his whole body at her. His kisses washed her face before she could pull back far enough, and his tail whipped her legs, no second invitation required.

"You're pretty sprightly today for an old boy, aren't you my love." She bit her lip at her own comment, pushing away the thought of just how old her boy really was.

True was nine years old, a present from Charlie. More like a desperate attempt from Charlie to make her reconnect to the world. It had worked though, and in approximately five seconds flat at that. True, a skinny little bundle of black and white fur and only days old, had been abandoned. He'd been found on an old property on the outskirts of Forks. Charlie had been checking into claims of squatters in the area, and that's when he found the tiny shivering pup trying to suckle from his ice cold dead mother. His litter mates hadn't survived. The vet confirmed later that the mother had gotten into difficulties passing a pup. She'd been dead for a good day or more. Somehow True had hung on. Charlie didn't hesitate to take him home to Bella. She knew all about trying to hang on.

It was a match made in heaven for Bella - and for True. More than once Charlie had marveled at the connection they had, True never leaving her side unless she made him stay home, and even then he would spend all his time watching the driveway, a stoic sentinel to her return. Charlie doubted there could ever be a love greater than the one shared by his daughter and her canine.

The phone rang as she pulled down the box of dog biscuits from the kitchen cupboard. Grabbing it from the wall bracket she cradled it between her shoulder and ear, and fished out a couple of heart shaped liver treats. True trembled before her, sitting as straight as a die, paw outstretched.

"Swan residence" she said brightly, then smiled warmly, dusting her hands off as True headed for the living room rug to devour his breakfast.

"Hey Bells," Charlies voice answered her. "Did you sleep well?"

She knew then that he'd heard her in the night and swallowed carefully before she continued, forcing her voice to be almost overly bright.

"Sure did Dad, I guess you heard me though…" she asked him, deciding suddenly that being direct might be much easier than days of him hovering. She couldn't take the hovering anymore.

"Um… no, did you dream honey? – you haven't had that kind of dream for a long time …" Bella may not have had Edwards gift for reading minds, but her fathers was always an open book to her. He was genuinely surprised, and worse still - now he sounded worried.

"Oh, nothing special… I thought since you were asking I must have been talking in my sleep." It wasn't far from the truth, she thought to herself.

Charlie was silent for a moment. "No, I didn't hear you but I just wanted you to know from me first… I saw Alice Cullen in town. I think she's back to sell the house or something."

"Oh," Bella managed, her first reaction to suck in a lungful of air. She immediately regretted it. No doubt Charlie had heard.

She was more than a little disappointed in her reaction. After all this time this kind of news should not have elicited such a response from her. To her knowledge the Cullen house was still just that, so they still had property in the area, so it had always made sense to Bella that one day, perhaps in her lifetime even, one of them at least would have to come back. At the beginning, she'd hoped it would be soon. As the years had passed she'd become calmer about it, believing more and more that she'd never ever lay eyes on any of them again.

"Um… Bella, are you ok honey?" Charlie knew her to well. It had only been ten years. To Bella, ten years was a lifetime ago, but to Charlie it was still only yesterday - and he'd never forget the fear of watching his daughter slip away before his eyes, powerless to save her.

She sighed carefully; "I'm fine; I knew this day would come and honestly, Dad – I don't care, I'm not eighteen anymore, and I know I put you through a lot then and you know I regret that, you know I regret everything I said, everything I did…" but Charlie cut her off.

"Bells – stop. I know – I know all that stuff. I just thought it might be a shock to the system, sort of take you by surprise, so I wanted to tell you before you bumped into her."

"Ok, - well thanks, I really love you for worrying, but honestly, I'm just fine – and I'm now…." she looked quickly at her watch "about to be late for work. Do you want to have dinner at the diner tonight?"

"Sure honey, whatever you think…" she was relieved to hear Charlies voice relaxing.

She quickly hung up then leaned her hands against the counter tops, gently hanging her head. She breathed slowly, decisively, eyes closed, meaning every breath, measuring, and counting. There were no tears, no trembling nor feeling faint. The day had come, and to her relief she really didn't feel that bad. The minor shock at hearing the news from Charlie was relegated to a nothing in the Cullen corner of her mind. Now as a more mature young lady of twenty eight, the only thing really bugging her was that when she did run into Alice, she wouldn't have aged a bit.

* * *

Bella was already late leaving the house so after quickly setting True up for the day with fresh water and kibble, having last cuddles and promises of walks after work, she decided a detour for a coffee wouldn't take that much more time, the day was already getting painfully out of control.

Parking was a bigger problem than she'd anticipated that blustery Monday morning, but even having to walk almost a block didn't deter her. Coffee was a treat, and today she'd already made up her mind that she needed to spoil herself.

She was making good time, keeping her face turned down away from the gusting drizzle blowing around her. She'd almost reached the cafe when she was suddenly body slammed to the pavement.

"Oh my God I'm so sorry!" The voice was distinct and Bella didn't need to see her attacker to know it was Alice Cullen. Cool hands were pulling at her, trying to help her up, but she waved them away with a groan.

"I didn't see you! I'm so so sorry, please! – let me help you." The cool hands were very insistent and kept plucking at Bella, trying to encourage her to rise. The voice continued, alternating between apology and panic and all the while telling Bella she hadn't seen her. Still lying on her side, Bella did a quick inventory before she allowed herself to move. This was going to hurt later she told herself, grimacing at the throb building in her shoulder. Somewhere there was a sore spot on her head and she wondered if she'd been laying there for more than the few seconds she felt like it had been. _Suck it up Swan. _She had to get up, and by herself. The very _last_ thing she needed was her _first_ meeting with a Cullen to have her at a disadvantage, not to mention looking like crap.

Cautiously optimistic nothing was broken, Bella eased herself up from the damp pavement - with the help of Alice's frantic hands. She dusted herself off, looking at Alice for the first time. She was still beautiful, Pixie-Like, her golden eyes more beautiful than Bella had remembered and Bella's stomach lurched at what she herself might have been - if only.

"Hi Alice…" she said, her tone even, without inflection.

If Alice could have blushed she would have been the color of a beet; "Oh, Bella! – I'm so sorry, I was just coming out of the Lawyers office and the wind must have caught the door and well… I didn't think..."

She reached out to take Bella's hand, but Bella chose instead to pull her hand away to tidy her hair back behind her ear.

Bella gave her a genuine smile. "It's fine Alice, I'm quite unhurt" then a thought occurred to her and she heard herself saying " I'm sure I'm not broken and bleeding so there's a plus for a change. How have you been Alice?" Bella maintained her pleasant smile, never taking her eyes from the raven haired beauty before her.

Alice's face fell, then she smiled back quickly, but the smile didn't reach her amber eyes. Bella felt some gratification that her words had hit the mark so effectively.

"Um… good, Bella, I…. we've been good…. I'm just back to..."

"Hmm… the house, you're selling… or so the rumor mill goes. You've got to love Forks!" Bella never took her eyes from the vision before her. Somehow her mouth was saying words but her mind was reeling back through the years to that magical time when they were all together. Alice hadn't changed a bit. Knowing that as fact but seeing it as fact was a whole new ball game for Bella.

"Um.. the house… yes… but it's not… oh…" then she stopped, and sighed. "How are you really Bella" her voice was as gentle and melodic as Bella had ever heard it.

The swift change of topic away from anything to do with the Cullen estate didn't surprise Bella, nor did the automatic smoke and mirrors exclusion really hurt that much.

"Sorry Alice, I didn't mean to pry. I'm good Alice, just fine thanks except" Bella made a show of looking down at her watch. " I'm going to have to run, I'm pretty late for work today."

Alice pursed her lips and reached out, taking Bella's hand in hers, squeezing it gently. Bella did not return the squeeze, rather waiting patiently for Alice to return her hand.

"It's good to see you Bella." Alice whispered.

Bella smiled again then turning purposefully towards the cafe called out "Good bye Alice…my regards to the family." Alice watched her walk away, and if Bella had turned perhaps she would have seen the pain in Alice's face.

* * *

The cafe smelled wonderful as usual. Bella never tired of the aroma of freshly brewed coffee and couldn't help but order a warm cinnamon roll as well. So she had two weaknesses now. Today she deserved them both.

"Bella love, you look like you've seen a ghost, are you alright dear?" Mrs Hanson asked her as she prepared Bella's coffee. Inwardly, Bella laughed at the cliché wishing in some ways she could say that it was actually a _vampire_ and not a ghost, but she didn't.

Instead she smiled warmly at the elderly lady and shook her head. "No, just took a little tumble outside…"

Mrs Hanson grimaced. "Oh, love, you need to be more careful!"

Bella nodded to appease her. "I'm fine, really – actually it wasn't my fault."

Mrs. Hanson raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "This time…really?"

"Alice Cullen just bumped into me, literally." Bella explained dryly.

"You know, I saw that Cullen girl yesterday and I swear she hasn't aged a day!" Mrs. Hanson now mollified about her accident went back to bagging her purchase.

"Must have had work done." Bella suggested innocently.

"I think so… you know I think you must be right about that…" Mrs. Hanson prattled on a little more about why Alice would be back, and the big house in the forest being empty for such a long time, and all the other gossip around Forks about the Cullens.

Bella nodded politely, answering when she had to, her mind busy on other things – like controlling the pain in her shoulder that was starting to really make its presence felt.

* * *

"I am _so_ late!" Bella chanted through gritted teeth as she hurried down the wide hospital hallways to the administration section, juggling her bag, two coffees and a paper bag that was getting more and more scrunched by the minute. It was with relief that she finally made it into her office unseen. Her assistant wasn't at her desk so she set down her now luke-warm coffees and cold cinnamon rolls on her own desk. In theory it had been a great idea to swing by and grab them, she and Phoebe both had a weakness a good coffee, but the reality was everything needed reheating. The trip from the cafe might have been short, but the weather not so friendly to warm pastries and hot coffee. No matter, she was looking forward to her caffeine and carbohydrate crutch.

Since she was going to have to detour to the kitchenette for a reheat she decided it would be prudent to check the damage done by her fall before anyone else commented on her appearance. In the bathroom adjacent to her office she carefully moved her shirt away from her shoulder and grimaced at the angry bruise already blushing her skin.

She closed her eyes and sighed. "Hi Alice, nice to be body-slammed by you… still working out?" she grumbled to herself, chiding herself for having put herself in this situation. Why couldn't she have just come to work instead of giving into her coffee craving.

"Here I go again…" she murmured to her reflection, her jaws clenched tightly. Already her head was starting to pound. Tentatively she touched the bump on the side of her head and hissed at the sudden sting. Looking at her fingers she saw a faint smear of red. Her eyes widened at just what her hair was still hiding. Thankfully a more detailed inspection showed only a light graze to the surface of the bump and a tiny amount of dried blood. Satisfied there wasn't too much to be concerned over she searched her handbag for Tylenol and then rolled her eyes – again. True to her haphazard morning, she'd left them beside her bed.

"Ok, down to see Nick" she grumbled to herself resigning herself to having absolutely nothing go her way today. She tried not to think about what she was going to tell him.

Bella had been working at Forks hospital since she'd left school. It was something she'd really fallen into, no pun intended, and she'd taken to it like the proverbial duck to water. Instead of going away to college she decided to enroll externally and completed her business studies over the internet, only visiting the college campus when she absolutely had to.

By the time she'd washed her face and re-applied her lipstick Bella could hear Phoebe in the outer office. She checked the mirror once more, took a deep breath and made sure her game face was on.

"Hey Phoebe – how was your weekend?" Bella asked brightly as she exited her office. She tried not to let Phoebe see how careful her movements were.

"Hey, Bella – look I'm really sorry – I'll make the time up… I just couldn't help it today… I was running late and then my car! Oh my God! That heap of junk…" but Bella waved away the excuse with a laugh.

"Phoebe, I dare you to have had a worse day than I have had today – and I _know_ I'm going to win that bet, - I've only just arrived myself."

Phoebe looked relieved. "You did? I mean, ok, great, yes you did – and you're the best you know that? – but, what happened to you?" Bella could see Phoebe start to give her the full top to toe appraisal, her car nightmare relegated to forgotten.

Bella shook her head and smirked. "You just wouldn't believe me if I told you – but lets just say to add to my woe I've left my Tylenol at home so I'm going to see if I can steal some from Nick – be back in a minute."

Bella made a bee-line for the door, ignoring the look of sympathy in Phoebe's eyes. Since her accident she'd tried to ignore the sympathy in everyone's eyes.

"Oh, and there's coffee and comfort food on my desk… if you're willing to do the honors?" she didn't need to look back to know the delight that little remark would have caused.

The hospital halls were still reasonably quiet and Bella made it all the way to the Admissions section without any further interruptions. She had just managed to convince herself that she'd be fine until she got home that afternoon, then she heard his voice.

"Bella" she turned quickly, the sudden movement causing her to grimace at the pain grabbing her shoulder and neck.

"Hey, Nick… ouch!" she stared into his deep blue eyes.

"Now that doesn't sound like the most promising start to the day?"

There was little point in sugar coating things to Nick; the man literally had X-Ray vision. Bella sighed.

"I had a bit of a tumble this morning and before you say anything it wasn't my fault, but I've left my Tylenol at home and I was hoping I could just …."

Nick put his hand up to silence her, grinning at her. He couldn't fully disguise the immediate worry in his eyes from her though.

"Ok, ok, I get it, slow down – and follow me…" He turned to walk backwards, making a sweeping bow before her. Bella would have rolled her eyes at his antics if it wouldn't have made her head hurt so much.

Dr Nick Hunter had arrived at the hospital in the years following the departure of Carlisle Cullen. It hadn't been easy for the tiny town of Forks to attract a doctor that was not only committed to their community, but was settled enough to stay in a small town, not looking to move on after a year or two as others had. As nice as Nick Hunter was, it had still been even harder for Bella to meet yet another milestone. It was one more firm slap in the face to cement the fact that the Cullens were really gone, permanently.

"Are you sure you've got the time now?" she asked, feeling a little guilty at whining so easily at him, not to mention the regret at giving him quite so much detail. It shouldn't have surprised her that he wasn't going to hand over the pills quite so easily.

He guided her into an exam room and helped her to sit up on the bed, slipping her shoes off for her. "For you, always…" he told her playfully, putting them neatly on the floor so she'd be able to slip them back on easily.

"I'm fine really, just got a bruise starting on my shoulder and my headache is getting a little…" she stopped and closed her eyes, sighing…. "Who am I kidding, I feel like death warmed up and the headache is moving to out of control status – which could be fixed! – if I can just have some Tylenol?" Bella bit her lip and smiled as innocently as she could.

Nick nodded, his face passive as he listened. "So - I'm going to ignore the fact you only want me for my drugs – and you can tell me where it hurts."

She gingerly moved her shirt to expose her shoulder. Nick screwed his face up and grimaced. "and I think I need this shirt off too."

"We're probably going to need to get you an X-Ray kiddo, anywhere else I need to know about?" Nick held his hand out for the navy hospital uniform shirt Bella was grudgingly unbuttoning. She held it out, her face a little paler than he'd like it to be. Even before he'd started her exam his mind was ticking boxes, underlining them to come back to later. Shock hadn't been ruled out yet, no matter how long ago this incident happened.

Bella was a creature of habit, and Nick new them all. She didn't need to ask and he didn't need to offer. Bella needed to be warm, being cold upset her, shivering upset her and right now he wanted her as calm as possible until he had fully accessed her.

He nudged her to lie down; carefully swinging her stockinged feet up onto the bed, then turned to get a soft cotton blanket from the warmer and tucked it around her. He set about examining her carefully, asking questions, sometimes verbally, sometimes just a questioning look. He could have examined Bella with his eyes blindfolded and still know every inch of her body. She felt the start of his question before he could ask.

"My back is fine" Bella sighed, choosing to stare at the ceiling rather than meet his eyes. "I landed on my side, not my back…"

"Ok… "Nick worked in silence for a few more moments. "Tell me from the top what happened. He raised an eyebrow when the name "Cullen" come up and Bella wondered if she should have stuck with "someone bumped into me" rather than "Alice Cullen body-slammed me."

"Are you Ok with that?" Nick asked, eying her critically.

Bella nodded. "God Nick, you sound like Charlie! It was a long time ago and yes I'm fine."

Nick lifted his hands in surrender. "I was only asking… I'm glad you're Ok with it."

"There is nothing to _be_ Ok _with!_ – So Alice is here to do whatever with whatever… none of _my_ business and frankly Nick I don't _want_ to know! - her presence here has already – ouch! Bella jumped as Nick's gentle probing found the egg on her head.

"And you were going to tell me you hit your head… when?"

"For heavens sake, I told you, I hit the pavement, I was a bit stunned… whatever, it's my shoulder that's hurting..."

"And you've got a headache, you already told me that Missy, so _you_ just won yourself a CT scan as well – look at it as a two-for-one Monday morning special" Nick told her glibly.

Bella scowled at him then started to pull herself up only to have her attempts thwarted.

"Oh no you don't…" she tried again to get herself upright.

"Oh yes I do….and remember, I can write paperwork too… if I'm pushed…" Nick raised an eyebrow and waited for the fight to go out of her. Finally he felt her start to relax.

"You can stay there, I want to get you done quickly so I can give you something for the pain before this gets out of hand." He smiled down at her, then patted her head and left the room to make the arrangements.

Bella stared at the ceiling trying to calm her rising fury.

Why was it that when a Cullen was involved her life became so unbearably complicated.


	2. Chapter 2

Many thanks to those reading and those that reviewed, your encouragement is priceless.

I don't own any of the Twilight characters playing with my characters; hopefully they'll all play nice.

Spelling and grammar mistakes are all mine, I'm working on improving.

* * *

Living Dead

Chapter Two

The words looped through her mind. _What did I do, did I do, did I do…_

Lying on this bed, in this exam room, with this headache - too much like the past for her liking, she wasn't going back there.

Very carefully, she sat herself up. The warmth of the cotton hospital blanket fell quickly away, replaced by the coolness of the air-conditioned room. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and sat still for a moment, clutching the edge firmly to control the obligatory head rush. Bella carefully rolled her wrist over, stretching her arm out to have a better look at her injured shoulder. The deep graze where the point of her shoulder had taken the worst of it was an angry reddish blue, deep bruising already developing. The bleeding scratches had dotted and dried to small blackish scabs, with more scratches cross-hatching more bruises in a trail down the back of her arm to her elbow.

_No wonder he freaked out at me, _she thought silently. Nick had always taken her seriously before, but today he had her ready for X-rays and CT Scans within a blink of an eye.

Feeling stable enough she reached for her shirt still hanging over the chair beside the bed and felt instantly mortified. The neatly starched shirt she'd taken from her closet that morning was now something more akin to a damp, limp rag. The sleeves laughed at each other; one still clean, the other showing a darker watermark from her contact with the drenched sidewalk and even had tiny pieces of dirt and was that gravel embedded in the fabric?

With little alternative, she grabbed the shirt and rubbed her fingers over the damp sleeve trying to dislodge the last of the dirt. She primped and pulled the shirt for another few seconds but with a start saw her finger tips come away faintly rust colored. She gingerly rubbed them together then sniffed. Her head spun no matter how slight the coppery smell was. Putting the shirt down beside her she eyed the sink on the other side of room. Probably not the best idea just yet, fingers would have to wait. There was little she could do now. _Big deep breath girl, suck it up._

The shirt beside her was the only piece of clothing that was going to make her getaway a viable possibility. She eased it back on, wincing at the movement required and hissing as the fabric touched her injuries. The fabric was cold on her skin; she was starting to stiffen up now. Bella slipped on her shoes then smoothed down her dark navy pants and straightened her collar once more, wishing she had a comb.

Fully dressed she closed her eyes and breathed carefully for few moments more to steady herself, all the while wondering why she hadn't just stuck it out for the rest of the day, or gone home for her own tablets. She hadn't even thought to go to the drug store for another packet. She knew in reality there wasn't any point in doing a runner. Firstly, Nick would find her and secondly, Nick would find her – assisted by a myriad of people, including Charlie, no doubt. No, at this point it was better just to bite the bullet and see it through.

She groaned. What had possessed her to try for such a quick fix which was undoubtedly now going to be anything but?

Hopping down she paced around the little exam room. She rolled her shoulder experimentally, stopping at the stab of pain. She did the same with her neck, turning her head from side to side slowly, only to find it made her head pound even more.

She took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. Her stomach was starting to churn ever so slightly and she wished she had some cool water to try and ease the growing nausea. There was a paper cup dispenser attached to the wall near the sink but then the thought of sipping cold water didn't seem that appealing after all.

Bella stared at the paintings on the wall to distract herself. There were childish ones, obviously drawn and painted by Laura, Nick's four year old daughter, and other more mature but abstract ones. Bella stared at the signature in the bottom right corner of one of the more eye catching ones. "Elizabeth Hunter"

_She's gotten really good… _Bella murmured to the empty room. She could remember when Elizabeth had first announced she was going to attend art classes. Nick had rolled his eyes, and figuratively patted his beautiful wife on the head.

Bella had been horrified at Nick's reaction and the next time she saw him she told him so, very directly and left little of her feelings on the matter to the imagination. Chagrined by the two women in his life, he did his best to be supportive.

The nausea was getting harder to ignore and Bella could feel the light sheen of perspiration on her forehead. _Time to sit down…_ The room was starting to feel claustrophobic, the floor threatening to come up to meet her. She eased herself into the chair beside the bed and leaned back, her head against the wall. The almost instant light-headedness made her stomach churn more strongly. _Head forward, head forward_ she panted.

She was deciding whether or not to make a dash for the toilet, or to crawl back onto the bed when the door opened.

"Bella? Tell me what's happening…"

"My head, it's just spinning…" She stopped, taking a couple more well measured breaths and felt Nick kneel in front of her. Bella didn't need to see his all too practiced assessing eyes. He generally read her like a book.

"Tummy?" he murmured, calmly picking up her wrist.

"Hmmm... it just came over me." Opening her eyes a little she took a sudden deeper breath, then squeezed them shut even tighter.

"Ok now, just go back to those nice steady breaths - can you stand for me?" Nick was already guiding her to stand up.

Bella nodded weakly and bit her lip. She didn't resist his support.

"Laying down?' she asked.

"Laying down" Nick nodded, steadying her.

Bella rose shakily to her feet, reaching out to brace herself on Nick.

"Take your time…" he murmured, "Just take your time..."

Carefully he guided her back to the exam bed and helped her to lay down again. As soon as she was flat on her back she groaned and wrapped her arms around her midriff. Nick moved quickly, elevating her knees with a pillow, wrapping a blood pressure cuff around her arm and clipping a pulse oximeter to her index finger. With one hand never leaving her good shoulder he reached above her head and flicked the monitor on, muting the sound to cut any beeping off.

He watched the readings for a moment, his eyes flicking between the screen and her face. Satisfied with what he was seeing he turned his attention back to her, smiling encouragingly.

"It's going to be fine, just stay put for a moment." Though his voice was quiet, the underlying concern brooked no argument from Bella. Nick had treated her since his first day in Forks and she trusted him implicitly.

She nodded, angry at the tears threatening to spill. She closed her eyes and turned her face to the wall. She heard the tap turned on, then off and a couple of moments later Nick was placing a cool face cloth on her forehead.

"How are you feeling? Can you open your eyes for me?

All she really wanted to do was shut the visual world out, something she often did now when she was in pain. Carefully she opened them, and wasn't totally surprised to find the room shrouded in semi darkness. It was much more comfortable that way rather than staring at the huge lights above her head.

She squinted at him, trying to focus.

Nick smiled gently. "That's a little better… tell me where we're at"

She grimaced. "Stomach still horrible and my head is screaming at me."

Nick nodded, his eyes darting around her face, flicking to the monitor.

"Ok – I'm going to give you something for the nausea and then get you down to radiology. Once we've got the all clear from them we can look at getting you something for the pain and the headache." He turned back to his desk and noted her chart before heading for the locked drug cabinet.

"I've got so much to _do_ today!" Bella whined in a low voice.

Nick returned with a small stainless steel kidney dish. To his surprise Bella didn't argue at the prospect of having an injection. He placed the dish on a shiny white laminated side table on wheels, pulling it towards them. Bella pursed her lips at the innocuous dish and started to undo a couple of buttons on her shirt, but her fingers were starting to shake.

"May I?" Nick asked, waiting for her to give up.

Very slightly Bella nodded her head in defeat and let her hands drop. Nick undid another couple of buttons then eased her good shoulder from her shirt and wiped a spot with an alcohol swab. Bella scrunched her nose up and turned her head slowly the other way.

Nick smiled to himself; she was a creature of habit. "Well... I'm sure you have - and I'm not patronizing you Bella you know that – but right now _this_ is what you're doing because you really have no choice in the matter."

Bella grimaced, her eyes blinking lazily. "I know Nick, it's just so frustrating.. it makes me feel...ow!" Nick held her arm firmly for a few seconds longer then pulled the offending needle from her arm, ignoring her growl, deftly wiping the site with an alcohol swab.

"…like you've been here before and being like this brings back all the old feelings?" he answered for her.

Bella stared at him for moment then obviously making a decision nodded abruptly, and then winced at the movement, reaching up her to touch her forehead.

Nick nodded in reply and touched her cheek, the back of his fingers lingering a moment.

"Well, much and all that you don't actually feel like it at the moment, you're not _like that_ anymore and this is just a one off, minor hiccup in the state of play… lets get you comfortable and then we're going for a ride."

* * *

The anti-nausea drug took effect swiftly and Bella was asleep in minutes. It was always that way for her. Nick sat at this desk updating her chart. He'd phoned for an orderly to take Bella down to X-ray and it wasn't long before there was a quiet knock on the door.

"Doc? – you got a passenger for me?" Reuben was a ruddy-faced man, a little on the overweight side but with a smile that could not be resisted by even the most anxious of patients.

"Hey, Reuben, yes… Miss Swan…"

"Oh, Bella?" Reuben's smile dropped; worry overtaking his features when he took in her sleeping form before him. "She Okay Doc?"

Nick nodded reassuringly. "She's fine Reuben, just took a tumble this morning and I want to check her out is all… she's just a bit nauseous."

"Ah…" Reuben nodded knowingly. "…and that stuff always knocks her for a loop."

Nick bit back a smile. "Hmm… anyway, they're expecting her…"

"Oh, sure Doc…. She's on her way, I'll look after her."

Bella moaned softly, her eyes opening to slits for a brief moment as Nick and Reuben unlocked the wheels of her bed and manoeuvred it away from the wall. Nick patted her shoulder.

"Reuben's taking you to X-ray Bella, see you in a bit." He was rewarded by another moan, but little else.

As the door closed a familiar ring tone bleeped. Spinning around he found Bella's cell phone, the only thing she'd had on her when she'd come to find him that morning. The flashing name said "Phoebe Cell", he flicked it open.

"Hi Phoebe, Nick Hunter here."

"Oh! – Nick? … Did Bella find you?.. oh, of course she did - you've got her cell… and …" Phoebe was obviously thinking out loud. "Is she still… can I speak to her?"

Nick chuckled. "Yes, she _did_ find me and I've commandeered her for the moment Phoebe, I'd say she's going to be out of action for the rest of the day."

"So… more than Tylenol to fix her disaster-morning?"

"Oh… something like that." Nick really couldn't discuss Bella with anyone, let alone her assistant.

"Ok… I'm not asking… and you can't answer anyway… she's Ok though?"

Nick smiled. "She's fine Phoebe, she'll call you later."

After he'd disconnected Nick went back to his desk and dialed the next number from memory. He hated having to tell Charlie anything, given Bella was an adult, but he needed to know where she was – and undoubtedly if Charlie called her office it would just panic him. He censored things as much as he could and reassured the Chief of Police she was fine and the X-rays were a precaution only.

* * *

The next time Bella surfaced she felt warm. Snug warm. She blinked her eyes carefully, getting her bearings. She didn't feel too bad, her headache a dull throb behind her eyes. She swallowed, and then coughed gently to clear her throat.

"Bells? – how're you feeling honey?"

It took her a moment to process the fact that Charlie was looming over her, rubbing her hands encouragingly.

Bella nodded, closing her eyes again. "Better… I think…"

"Good, that's really good – I'll let Nick know you're awake." Charlie gave her hands another squeeze and disappeared from her vision. Bella let her eyes close again.

It seemed like seconds later that Nick swum into view.

"Hey Missy, how's it going now?" Nick's fingers were stroking her face, making her blink more and she tried to turn her face away from the nagging strokes. "Open those eyes all the way for me now… I wanna see those baby browns…" His voice was soft and had an encouraging lilt to it.

Bella took a deeper breath and forced her eyes open as wide as she could. "Haven't got much pain and my head's manageable."

Nick nodded. "Good… seems like my cocktail worked well then."

"Oh… you are so not funny Doctor Hunter…" Bella tried to curl her lip at him in disgust but only managed to pull a face that made him chuckle at her.

"No, I'm not funny and neither was your X-Rays."

Bella finally managed to focus on him. "What? What they'd show?"

"Well, your shoulder is fine, nothing broken but the X-ray showed some changes to the shape of your spine which I'm hopeful is because of muscle spasm. The CT Scan didn't show anything terrible so I'm going with soft tissue damage and muscle spasms for the moment, hence the reason why you currently have a drug induced hang-over."

Bella stared at him for a moment, blinking slowly. "Great…what's th'time?"

Nick looked at his watch. "Almost 4:00pm, you've had a good sleep today."

"Oh hell, the whole days gone… You're not making me stay here tonight."

Nick laughed lightly. "Is that a question or a statement?"

"Both" Bella grumbled. Now that her eyes were staying open without her having to make too much effort to concentrate on doing that, she tentatively tried moving her limbs and stretching.

Nick watched her progress without speaking, then gave her a questioning look.

"Not bad" Bella answered him. "I want to go home please. Is Charlie still here?" She frowned at the realization he'd been there before but now she couldn't see him.

"Coffee Bella, he's gone to get himself one – he's just giving you some space to talk to me first, and yes, you _can_ go home, when you can stand up that is – and when you get there you will rest, and let Charlie fuss to his hearts content and if, that is a huge _if_ you feel well enough tomorrow, you can come to work. So that we're clear on this though, I'll be double checking either way."

Bella nodded, licking her dry lips. "Ok, whatever you want, right now I need the bathroom."

* * *

Dinner at the Diner was not an option and once Bella was able to stand up and walk, Charlie was allowed to take her home to go back to bed and sleep off the drugs Nick had given her. They walked carefully to the cruiser, Charlie watching every step, making quiet small talk about his day.

The fresh air woke her a little more and she managed to stay awake all the way home. Her loyal black and white sentinel sat on the front porch, head up, nose sniffing, tail wagging furiously when he saw she was indeed in the cruiser with Charlie. She smiled and Charlie shook his head.

"No stopping that one." He murmured, buoyed by Bella's smile.

On getting out of the car True was all over her, he knew she smelled different and he diligently checked her over, his systematic sniffing audible. Bella crooned to him and made a big fuss, even tossing his beloved tennis ball that he always placed beside the mail box. True never missed a trick; you had to clear the mail each day so if you were a Border Collie that wanted your ball thrown each afternoon, what better place to leave it?

As True raced off Bella took the mail from the box. There was a plain white card with a tiny rose printed in the top left corner. It was from the local florist to say they'd called to make a delivery – to call them on her return.

Charlie's face hardened when he saw it. Bella's stomach fell. The last thing she could deal with today would be unidentified flowers. She handed the card via two outstretched finger tips to Charlie.

"I have no idea – perhaps Alice…" She said quietly. "They can go to the palliative care ward at the hospital, now there's a nice irony." She stopped at her own words, oddly surprised at herself as to how easily she had almost spoken of the Cullen condition (as she referred to it) out loud.

Charlie was still back on Alice. "Wouldn't she have dropped them in herself? – made sure you're ok?" Charlie asked.

Bella didn't turn, rather continuing her careful play with True. That dog was relentless with a ball.

"Oh I have no doubt Alice knows I'm fine dad, and I don't think after ten years of ignoring me you'd really expect her to front me in person do you?"

Charlie pursed his lips. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again and raised his eyebrows thoughtfully. Shaking his head he turned towards the house.

"I always liked that girl" he muttered under his breath.

He didn't hear Bella's answer "and she hasn't changed one bit."

Charlie stopped on the first step, looking down for a moment before turning back to his daughter. "You don't think it's…"

"No, I'm sure Elizabeth wouldn't have. She'd have been here with food and DVDs, and chocolate, she would have brought me chocolate.

Charlie looked at her oddly, "That's not who I meant."

Bella smiled without turning back to her father. "I know who you meant."

Charlie stared at her for a moment longer. Neither of them spoke other than Bella encouraging True to return his now grass covered slobbery tennis ball. Regardless of her emphatic statement of wellness, he could see the tightness in her shoulders, the slight stoop in her stance that was now the norm. Time to look after his girl.

He cleared his throat and turned towards the porch. "Let's get you inside Bells, gonna come down in buckets pretty soon – True! Supper!"

If there was anything at all that could physically make True stop playing ball – it was supper.

With a "wait for me" woof he was waiting at the front door before Charlie could take one more step.

Bella smiled widely, then Charlie saw the pain fleetingly across her features. "And you young lady, need to rest – heel!" He joked lightly, snapping his fingers at her.

Bella nodded swallowing down her stomach before carefully traversing the slick cement path to the house. Tossing the ball for True though so important to the pair of them, was taking its toll on her still fragile state.

"My Lady" Charlie offered his arm to help her up the stairs.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "You don't have to."

"Yeah, well, I'm your dad, so humor me."

* * *

They ate supper early, Charlie throwing together tinned chicken soup and toast, no butter and a cup of black tea. It wouldn't have sounded terribly flash for some people but it was a staple diet for bad days for Bella, something that wouldn't reappear later. Well, not generally speaking.

A hot shower, more tablets and Bella was in bed, with an immovable Border Collie on the floor beside her. Regardless of what Charlie said or threatened, True was only tuned into his mistress and wasn't budging.

Bella rolled on her side, her back to the window and reached down to stroke the silken fur beside her. "Sweet dreams my boy, I love you." She gave him a final pat then snuggled under her blankets.

Sleep came quickly for Bella, the drugs taking her deep into dreamless sleep. She heard little of the rain lashing the windows of the house, rattling the old frames. She saw nothing of the lightning flashes, nor heard the thunder rumble.

However when True growled low and threateningly and jumped lithely on to the bed beside her, his eyes never leaving the window, she reached out to calm him.

"Shhh... baby, nothing there…"


End file.
